Archives for October 2016

What better flavors to welcome Fall than the spices associated with pumpkin pie? I have wanted to try a pumpkin spice cookie for several years, and in my mind I thought that all I would have to do is replace some of the granulated sugar in my cookie recipe with some brown sugar and add some pumpkin pie spice. So easy! I thought they tasted pretty fantastic, but they still needed to pass the grandkid test. If they liked them, then I knew I had a winner. After the cookies were made, I sent a few cookies to four of my grandkids and a larger box of cookies to my granddaughter away at college, so she could share with her teammates. I loved the cookie with a cup of coffee, but I wanted to see if they had wide appeal. Most kids love cookies, and college students really love getting goody boxes, but I was counting on them to give me their honest opinion. I assured them that their comments would have no bearing on future cookie packages. When the reviews came in everyone loved them.

In addition to making the cookies with pumpkin pie spices, I added a few drops of caramel flavoring to my royal icing recipe. It was the perfect complement to the cookies. I was able to get the flavoring at my local farmer’s market, but I included the link to Amazon’s product page so you could see exactly what I’m talking about. Lorann Oils makes many different types of oils, emulsions and flavorings. I have read that you shouldn’t use any oil in royal icing but I have no experience to back that up. To be safe I used the flavoring.

The recipe I used to make my cookies is below, but if you have a recipe that you love and feel like experimenting try substituting half of the granulated sugar with brown sugar and add 2 1/2 teaspoons of either pumpkin pie spice or with a combination of cinnamon, nutmeg and a tiny bit of ground cloves.

These cookies are wonderful on a chilly day with a cup of whatever warm beverage you prefer. I hope you try them and let me know your thoughts!

*If you don't have pumpkin pie spice you can make your own mixture with 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp nutmeg and 1/2 tsp ground cloves or any combination you like.

Instructions

Mix butter and granulated sugar until thoroughly blended. Add eggs, vanilla and pumpkin pie spice. Mix well. Add flour, mix until combined. Separate the dough into 2 or 3 balls, flatten and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight. The dough can also be frozen at this point. Defrost it in the refrigerator. The dough will keep for a few days, in the refrigerator and several months in the freezer.

Take one piece of dough out and let it sit on the counter for a few minutes. The dough will be very hard, but it softens quickly. Working with one section of dough at a time, roll the dough on a floured surface, to about 1/4″ thickness, and cut into desired shapes.

Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes, until the cookies are slightly brown on the bottom. All ovens are different so keep an eye on your cookies the first time you make them to determine the best time for your oven.

I don’t normally refrigerate or freeze my cut out cookies before I bake them but a lot of bakers do to help minimize spreading so I thought I would see if it made a difference in my cookies. I froze the cutouts for 15 minutes before baking them. I didn’t find any difference in any of the cookies except the frozen cookies took longer to bake. As you can see I didn’t get any spreading with either cookie. It’s one of the things I love about this recipe.

I love stenciled cookies, and have tried making them a few times with limited success. Needless to say, I didn’t let that dampen my enthusiasm. Because I only make cookies for my grandkids (hence the name Nanagrams), I have the luxury of playing around with designs. A cookie doesn’t have to be professional looking to taste great, and nobody minds eating my mistakes!

Many years ago I did a little bit of scrapbooking, and when Silhouette came out with a cutter (about 10 years ago), I bought one immediately. I had visions of making many scrapbook pages of beautifully cut designs. After I got my machine I tried to cut some card stock, and couldn’t even make it cut a simple shape. Convinced I was an idiot I put it back in the box, where it sat in the back of a closet until two weeks ago, when someone told me about a new group on Facebook dedicated to cutting stencils for cookies using a Silhouette machine. I joined the group and decided to give the machine another try. I finally figured out what I had done wrong all those years ago. It’s amazing how much you can learn by reading the manual! They have since come out with several new, improved machines, but I am very happy with this one and have no plans to upgrade.

There is definitely a learning curve, and I hit it hard when I set out to stencil my first cookies. As I always do when learning a new technique, I watched several videos and read a few blog posts to learn how to do it. The most important things I learned were that you need to secure your stencil so the icing doesn’t leak under the stencil and that your consistency has to be right. If it’s too thin, it will leak under the stencil and if it’s too thick, it will drag and distort your stencil. I have found a toothpaste-like consistency works best for me. I learned about using magnets to secure your stencil on Sweet Sugarbelle’s blog. That worked okay for me, but I was still getting a lot of messy looking cookies. I also read about the Stencil Genie, which provides a frame to hold your stencil in place over your cookie while you decorate it. As this is just a glorified hobby for me, I was having a hard time justifying buying a new tool to decorate cookies.

My sister is relatively new to this crazy cookie-decorating hobby, and has volunteered to make 200 cookies for her local SPCA. We talked about the Stencil Genie and wondered if using that would simplify the process. Voila! I had found just the motivation I needed to purchase the Stencil Genie and give it a try! Below are my impressions of using the Stencil Genie to stencil cookies. I have not received anything in exchange for this review, and these opinions are mine alone.

The frame comes in two pieces, and the stencil is held between them with very strong magnets. There is a thin side and a thicker side to accommodate different cookie thicknesses. I have to tell you that this little tool is a game changer! It made stenciling my cookies so much easier, and was remarkably easy to use. My hands can be a little shaky, and this really helped to keep the stencil steady. Though pros typically use an airbrush machine when using stencils, I use only royal icing, and it worked perfectly. If you are serious about stenciling cookies, then I highly recommend getting one of these for yourself. I sent mine to my sister for her to try, and am confident that she will love it as much as I do.

This was my first try with the Stencil Genie. I cut the stencil using my Silhouette machine and used the Stencil Genie to apply the icing. After I sent mine to my sister, I had to stencil a few more cookies. It was so much more difficult without that little tool, so I have decided to let her keep it (surprise Peggy!) and will order another one for myself!